Five-year-old Alexander Stephens, of Licking County, died April 29 after authorities responding to a call found him and his badly injured 6-year-old brother at a Middletown motel. Authorities say the boys were beaten by their mother and her friend while staying in a tent near the Great Miami River.

Investigators say the children were struck after one took food.

Their mother, Theresa Hawkins-Stephens, was charged in municipal court with murder, felonious assault and endangering children.